NEWS & EVENTS 2014

A recent University at Albany study has concluded that excessive use of online social networking can not only be addictive, but may also be associated with other impulse control disorders, including substance abuse.

UAlbany Professor of Art and Art History Michael Werner is in Serbia with U.S. Ambassador Michael D. Kirby to present the restored and wall-mounted Mercury Mosaic and sections of the residential room geometric mosaic now undergoing conservation in the Roman-era Imperial Palace in the Sirmium Preservation Shelter.

The College of Arts and Sciences held its first Holiday Social on December 8, 2014, in the Futterer Lounge of the Performing Arts Center. Faculty and staff joined Dean Edelgard Wulfert to celebrate the successes of the 2014 calendar year as well as the holiday season.

The University at Albany and the UAlbany chapter of United University Professions recently received a grant from the statewide UUP Joint Labor Management Committee. The grant, matched by UAlbany’s Office of the Provost, allows two tenure-track assistant professors to participate in a faculty mentoring/success program in spring 2015.

An array of recent awards, ranging from one to four years, will support researchers and their teams from UAlbany's Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences Research Center. The two entities comprise one of the largest university-based concentrations of weather and climate science in the country.

University at Albany associate professor and sociologist Samantha Friedman is in Turkey on a Fulbright Scholarship this academic year, examining residential segregation by socioeconomic status (SES) across the country’s provinces and districts and comparing it to such segregation in the United States.

There are many forms of memory and only some of these may be critical for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study by University at Albany psychology professor Andrew M. Poulos and colleagues, as well as researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

UAlbany chemistry professor Eric Block has been selected as a member of the 2014 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society. The 2014 ACS Fellows, which were announced in today’s issue of Chemical and Engineering News, will be honored on Aug. 1.

Distinguished Professor Marlene Belfort, renowned for her groundbreaking research in the field of genetics and biochemistry as well as her passionate guidance of young scientists, has been appointed to a major advisory panel of the National Institutes of Health, joining others from prestigious research institutions nationwide .

UAlbany biologist Prashanth Rangan joins 21 other outstanding young researchers as 2014 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Rangan was awarded for his investigations into the role of non-coding RNA in the fate of stem cells, whose improper differentiation has been linked to cancer and other diseases.

Like many of her fellow classmates, UAlbany senior Elizabeth Skovron is spending this summer fine-tuning the skills needed to create a successful path after graduation. What separates the honors student and sociology major from others is her initiative to help current students and recent graduates transition to the professional world.

UAlbany students, faculty and staff recently captured second place at WxChallenge, a national online weather forecasting competition, run by the University of Oklahoma. For the second consecutive year, UAlbany was second only to Penn State in the contest, further solidifying its position as a national leader in atmospheric sciences.

This highly anticipated event was held on May 20, 2014, in appreciation of the excellent work that faculty and staff do throughout the year. Over 130 people attended the Ice Cream Social to celebrate and reflect on the accomplishments of the past year, as well as to relax for a bit among colleagues and friends after the demanding final exam period.

University at Albany Psychology Professor Bruce Svare has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to assist the Thailand higher education system in developing a contemporary psychology program of study.

Through a new National Science Foundation grant, atmospheric scientist Aiguo Dai is studying more than a century of climate simulations to differentiate natural from man-induced forces affecting global drought and precipitation. The study’s results will help interpret recent extreme climate events, such as drought in the Southwest U.S.

Rebecca Mendelsohn’s dissertation field work at the early Mesoamerican city of Izapa was featured in the May 16th issue of Science. She is documenting for the first time how people lived between 850 BC and AD 200 in what is now the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico.

University at Albany Professor of Photography Phyllis Galembo has been awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for 2014. Galembo is among 178 scholars, artists and scientists honored from a pool of almost 3,000 applicants across the U.S. and Canada.

Applying pioneering web-based solutions, the Albany Visualization And Informatics Lab, led by Catherine T. Lawson, is selected by the Federal Highway Administration to lead a multi-state initiative that advances transportation planning in such areas as truck routing, pollution control, travel safety, traffic patterns, and more.

Atmospheric sciences professor Lance Bosart has been named a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Bosart received this honor for his sustained contributions to his field in research, teaching, and professional service.